Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,690,000 shares, a decrease of 5.5% from the May 31st total of 7,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Adobe Price Performance

ADBE opened at $560.01 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $485.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $534.27. Adobe has a 12-month low of $433.97 and a 12-month high of $638.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $248.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.32, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.30.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 13th. The software company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.39 by $0.09. Adobe had a return on equity of 40.67% and a net margin of 24.86%. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. Adobe’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Adobe will post 14.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Adobe announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software company to buy up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADBE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Adobe from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Adobe from $600.00 to $540.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Melius downgraded Adobe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Adobe from $554.00 to $529.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Adobe from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $570.00 to $580.00 in a report on Friday, June 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Adobe has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $607.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.11, for a total value of $13,602,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 379,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,576,802.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Adobe news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.11, for a total value of $13,602,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 379,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,576,802.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total value of $45,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,940,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,270 shares of company stock valued at $15,165,916 in the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Adobe

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe during the 1st quarter worth about $320,000. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX raised its position in shares of Adobe by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 8,297 shares of the software company’s stock worth $4,220,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Adobe by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 7,339 shares of the software company’s stock worth $3,703,000 after acquiring an additional 3,967 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Adobe by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 775,862 shares of the software company’s stock worth $392,559,000 after acquiring an additional 47,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tactive Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe during the 1st quarter worth about $1,366,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

About Adobe

Adobe Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified software company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Digital Media, Digital Experience, and Publishing and Advertising. The Digital Media segment offers products, services, and solutions that enable individuals, teams, and enterprises to create, publish, and promote content; and Document Cloud, a unified cloud-based document services platform.